E-Commerce Growth Is Double That Of Offline Retail

With more people using location based digital tools to help them find offline products, it’s no surprise that e-commerce is growing significantly – this has been confirmed by a recent analysis done by comScore. comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, has reported that online retail spending has reached spending of $38 billion for the quarter, an improvement of 12% compared to last year. Short-term growth wasn’t the only record setting figure either; this is the sixth consecutive quarter where positive year-over-year growth has been seen. It’s also the second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth rates. Taking a look at 2010 highlights and success, online retail spending hit a record of $43.4 billion in Q4 of 2010, up 11% from 2009.

comScore has said that the 12% growth was primarily due to an increase in buyers, which were up 7%, as well as transactions per buyer, which improved by 9%. Interestingly enough, the average dollars per transaction dropped slightly, down 4%. Apart from buyers becoming more trusting with technology and adopting e-commerce based transactions as a whole, another core driver has been a lower price point for online retailers. This quarter’s e-commerce growth was roughly double that of offline retail, showing that online convenience and deals make for easier choices consumers when it comes to shopping.

There’s good news for small and mid-sized online retailers, as well. 67% of dollars spent online were through the top 25 online retailers, the same percentage as last year, which shows potential for smaller businesses to pick up market share.

The bottom is that more customers are moving online to do their shopping, and while the holiday season is far away, trends are pointing to another record year in e-commerce spending yet again.

So how about it? Have you recently ordered a product online? What about the future? Do you trust e-commerce via your smartphone? Leave your comments below!